I know we've seen the redundancy in Gay/Derozan, but this was a game where you could argue you need to two wing players that can score regardless of how, and the way.

Demar took advantage of the smaller player tonight, and he was aggressive at the end of the game. Rudy was a lot more impressive, because he took Cunningham and Kirilenko to school, and those two are about as lengthy players as Gay is, not to mention Kirilenko is one of the better defenders in the NBA, and has been in the last decade.

You know what I'd love to hear/see? Rudy and Demar come into next season, and vow they will stay put, and do their work in the post/inside, similar to what Wade and James did last season. These two are obviously very, very effective with their backs to the basket, or working their game within the mid-range, not from the outside.

I know we've seen the redundancy in Gay/Derozan, but this was a game where you could argue you need to two wing players that can score regardless of how, and the way.

Demar took advantage of the smaller player tonight, and he was aggressive at the end of the game. Rudy was a lot more impressive, because he took Cunningham and Kirilenko to school, and those two are about as lengthy players as Gay is, not to mention Kirilenko is one of the better defenders in the NBA, and has been in the last decade.

You know what I'd love to hear/see? Rudy and Demar come into next season, and vow they will stay put, and do their work in the post/inside, similar to what Wade and James did last season. These two are obviously very, very effective with their backs to the basket, or working their game within the mid-range, not from the outside.

Though I somehow doubt we'll see that. I just hope Demar can add that corner 3. Otherwise it's hard to see a long-term fit with both. We'll see though. Gay has to shoot better too. Shooting could still generally be a big problem....sigh

The problem is Demar has struggled to be effective against pesky/strong defenders. Tonight Kirilenko was busy with Gay, so Demar's toughest opponent was Budinger, who has decent size but is not a great defender. He also got to eat up Ridnour.

Gay just needs to decide to do this more. He can be effective against anyone when he initiates a lot of his game in the post. He was killing Kirilenko at times, and that's not an easy task.

The problem is Demar has struggled to be effective against pesky/strong defenders. Tonight Kirilenko was busy with Gay, so Demar's toughest opponent was Budinger, who has decent size but is not a great defender. He also got to eat up Ridnour.

Gay just needs to decide to do this more. He can be effective against anyone when he initiates a lot of his game in the post. He was killing Kirilenko at times, and that's not an easy task.

Rudy Gay's shooting from the outside has improved in the last couple, and I personally think Demar's mid-ranged game is enough for him to get by on the post, with the ever odd outside shot; see Dwayne Wade.

I think the key things Gay and Derozan NEED to improve on BOTH as a duo is:

- ball-handling
- strength
- mentality to stay inside

With that, they'll be able to actually work against teams that have two capable wing defenders i.e Memphis, Miami, Boston.

Rudy Gay's shooting from the outside has improved in the last couple, and I personally think Demar's mid-ranged game is enough for him to get by on the post, with the ever odd outside shot; see Dwayne Wade.

I think the key things Gay and Derozan NEED to improve on BOTH as a duo is:

- ball-handling
- strength
- mentality to stay inside

With that, they'll be able to actually work against teams that have two capable wing defenders i.e Memphis, Miami, Boston.

Still though, with JV and Amir on the floor, that's 4 of your players mostly effective working from inside the 3 pt line. That's not easy to work with in terms of creating space.

ACtually, I think oddly enough it might bug me more if they were a really good team. Really good teams are rarely joking and cocky, because it's just routine for them, so they don't get too happy or excited after a win. For a bad team, it's like a much needed breath of fresh air. Kind of ridiculous to celebrate (like you say what is a bad team happy about?), but meh, I don't mind it.

Flying home last night actually watched the game live on the plane. My wife gave me a huge elbow in the ribs when Ross did the dunk as I let out a magnified due to headphones laughing "Jesus!" that echoed throughout the cabin. Whoops. Great dunk though.

A couple of things that stuck out for me last night:

1) nice to see more post ups for DeMar and Rudy. Matchups played a part, especially for DeRozan, but Rudy should be posting up more. I'm not sure there is a SF in the league with his length.

2) DeMar really does not like passing to JV.... like at all.

3) Casey criticizing time: the play at around 7:30 in the 3rd quarter. Raps have fallen behind 61-50, I believe, time out called. The play out of the time out is a 21 foot jump shot for DeMar. FUCK MAN! You need points to stop the momentum and you are settling for a 21 foot jump shot? This was a set play!!?!??!!? C'mon, man. Seriously? How about a post up? How about attacking the rim? The shot did miss by the way but even if it had gone in, not the play I want run in that situation.

If you watched Minnesota's O versus Toronto's the difference, besides Rubio being an incredible passer, is the Wolves play north-south while Toronto plays east-west i.e. Toronto consistently plays for set jump shots. Casey doesn't run a system, he runs set plays. Me, I am more of a system guy. Don't get me wrong, you need sets too but all Toronto's sets end in a jump shot, sets don't need to always be for a jumper.